Captain Horatio Sinbad, North Carolina's only officially commissioned privateer, set sail from Beaufort in 2002, bound for Jamaica to compete in the Class B race at America's Sail. He returned with a 100-pound trophy and the right to choose the final port of the next tall ships race in 2006. He chose his home port of Beaufort. Wright describes the activities of this tall ships event which runs from June 30 to July 4. Around 250,000 visitors are expected. Class A ships will dock in Morehead City. Class B ships will dock in Beaufort at the new floating docks being built as part of the $60 to $80 million Olde Beaufort Seaport, a living history maritime village that will expand the facilities of the North Carolina Maritime Museum.

Heritage tourism, or visiting an area for cultural and natural enrichment, is one of the fastest growing segments of the state's second largest industry, tourism. Using the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area as an example, Wright discusses what is involved in securing a heritage designation. The Blue Ridge area covers twenty-five western North Carolina counties. Other heritage initiatives include ecotourism, such as the North Carolina Birding Trail, and a movement to save the rapidly disappearing heritage of the Southern mill towns, the Southwide Textile Heritage Initiative.

North Carolina faces over $6.5 billion in needed water and sewer construction over the next five years because of a growing population, an aging infrastructure system, and stricter health and environmental regulations. Hall, president of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, discusses how this enormous need might be funded.

Rusine Mitchell-Sinclair is the senior state executive for IBM's operations in the Research Triangle Park--the largest IBM site in the world--and the company's other locations across the state. She also serves as vice-president of strategy and implementation of the company's Global IT Delivery division, which helps IBM's clients run their technology systems and data centers in this country and around the world. Mitchell-Sinclair is featured in NORTH CAROLINA magazine executive profile.

Western Carolina University's new Institute for the Economy and the Future (IEF) opened in September 2005. It is intended to be a â€œthink and do tankâ€ that will boost the region's economy in a number of ways. It will conduct research, policy analysis, polling surveys, and employment trend analysis, not only to promote regional economic development, for also for paying clients.